"In my day"

[Aliquid]

Dewey Decimal Classification is still a thing in the vast majority of American public libraries.

Good point. I was thinking about navigating the rows of card catalogue cabinets... Not Dewey's system itself. My mistake.

[Bulldog Psion]

Being a strict and eccentric director, however, I demanded actual pigeons be used on stage for authenticity. Given the copious amounts of bird seed required by the script we had to cut costs by getting a bargain substitute from an alley in Little Italy. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the debut performance the birds had been fed enough "SEDE-O" that the chemical side effects warped their little brains and they became deranged. Let me tell you, getting them into their seats before curtain up is a chore but throw a couple of deranged pigeons into the crowd and those bastards move like the wind.

It's such bull****, I swear.

This is certainly weird, but ...

Spoiler

Show

[veti]

Things I remember, in no particular order:

• Three channels on TV. Closing down, usually shortly after midnight.
• Waiting for the (black and white) TV to warm up after it was switched on.
• No VCRs, not because they were obsolete but because they hadn't been invented yet.
• My dad recording our family holidays on a cine-camera with actual film inside.
• "Self-winding" wristwatches. Digital watches. Regular clockwork watches.
• School desks with inkwells.
• Reel-to-reel tape recordings.
• Phones with bells in.
• Movies with intervals mid-way through.
• The National Anthem played in theatres, before each show. And standing up for it.
• New paperbacks costing less than a dollar.
• Asking my elders about their memories of World War Two.
• Learning to program on a computer with 6k of RAM.
• 'Star Wars' was one movie. Not three, and certainly not "six and counting plus a huge extended milking franchise incorporating comic books, novels, toys, games and cartoons".
• "Advanced What and Dragons?"
• The Sony Walkman.
• New Coke.
• The Iron Curtain.

[Jay R]

My first memory is actually of me waking up in a dumpster two blocks down from the Smithsonian with nothing on my person but a pair of jeans, a fossilised animal skull and a gun tucked down the front of my pants. That was in June of 2009, though, so I wouldn't have much to go on even if I didn't say "In my day I contemplated my past and my existence whilst looking at my reflection through a foggy motel mirror"

Those were the days!

That was you? We still have your old memories backed up on disk, if you want. I don't recommend it, though; they were kind of tawdry.

We need the skull back, by the way.

[Maelstrom]

Things I remember, in no particular order:

• Three channels on TV. Closing down, usually shortly after midnight.
• Waiting for the (black and white) TV to warm up after it was switched on.
• No VCRs, not because they were obsolete but because they hadn't been invented yet.
• My dad recording our family holidays on a cine-camera with actual film inside.
• "Self-winding" wristwatches. Digital watches. Regular clockwork watches.
• School desks with inkwells.
• Reel-to-reel tape recordings.
• Phones with bells in.
• Movies with intervals mid-way through.
• The National Anthem played in theatres, before each show. And standing up for it.
• New paperbacks costing less than a dollar.
• Asking my elders about their memories of World War Two.
• Learning to program on a computer with 6k of RAM.
• 'Star Wars' was one movie. Not three, and certainly not "six and counting plus a huge extended milking franchise incorporating comic books, novels, toys, games and cartoons".
• "Advanced What and Dragons?"
• The Sony Walkman.
• New Coke.
• The Iron Curtain.

Ding ding ding!!!! We have a winner of the 'Old Fart' Contest! I though I may had been in contention, but I bow to your superior years ;) I'll get off yer lawn now

[tomandtish]

Things I remember, in no particular order:

• Three channels on TV. Closing down, usually shortly after midnight.
• Waiting for the (black and white) TV to warm up after it was switched on.
• No VCRs, not because they were obsolete but because they hadn't been invented yet.
• My dad recording our family holidays on a cine-camera with actual film inside.
• "Self-winding" wristwatches. Digital watches. Regular clockwork watches.
• School desks with inkwells.
• Reel-to-reel tape recordings.
• Phones with bells in.
• Movies with intervals mid-way through.
• The National Anthem played in theatres, before each show. And standing up for it.
• New paperbacks costing less than a dollar.
• Asking my elders about their memories of World War Two.
• Learning to program on a computer with 6k of RAM.
• 'Star Wars' was one movie. Not three, and certainly not "six and counting plus a huge extended milking franchise incorporating comic books, novels, toys, games and cartoons".
• "Advanced What and Dragons?"
• The Sony Walkman.
• New Coke.
• The Iron Curtain.

Pretty much right there on all of these. I even remember party lines. No, not those 900 chat numbers. I'm talking the old school phone lines where a group of homes shared the same line and the length and number of rings told you which home a call was for.

If you were careful you could quietly pick up your phone and listen in on your neighbor's conversations.

[BannedInSchool]

In my day free porn was desynched cable channels!

(Hey! I think I saw something!)

[Grinner]

This is certainly weird, but ...

Spoiler

Show

I am. Quite so.

This guy's going places.

[Aquillion]

[*]An Apple 2c computer (for you youngsters: that was before Apple made the Mac)

Do you remember the nightmarish sound it used to make when it tried to read an empty disk drive? It almost made me leap out of my skin, every time.

Good point. I was thinking about navigating the rows of card catalogue cabinets... Not Dewey's system itself. My mistake.

I remember being taught about it in school, because of course reading card catalogs was going to be vital to my future as an adult.

Also cursive. Every time I pointed out how pointless it was to learn cursive, people would tell me how important it was going to be. Now it's deader than Latin.

Other than that, I remember the time when I decided to actually use google instead of yahoo to search things.

I remember a friend introducing me to Google as the hip new search engine someone had mentioned on Slashdot.

[Peelee]

I remember when gas was a dollar.

I remember going to a pizza place that had two arcade cabinets - Donkey Kong and Pac-Man. And I remember invariably always picking Donkey Kong, when my parents would give me a coin.

John Glenn orbited the earth. I mean he really went around the earth – in space!

“Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”
"That's one small step for a man; one giant leap for mankind."

Oh man. You have no idea how jealous I am.

[Scarlet Knight]

John Glenn orbited the earth. I mean he really went around the earth – in space!

Being called into the school auditorium to be told that the President had been killed.

I remember when the Berlin Wall went up.

My compliments, sir. You are one of the few Playgrounders older than I.

I can only remember as far back as the death of MLK.

When I heard Sheryl Crow sing: "I'm gonna soak up the sun, Got my 45 on, So I can rock on" I thought she meant she was playing her singles...

[Aliquid]

Do you remember the nightmarish sound it used to make when it tried to read an empty disk drive? It almost made me leap out of my skin, every time.

yes, it caused an "oh crap" panicked response.

I remember being taught about it in school, because of course reading card catalogs was going to be vital to my future as an adult.

Also cursive. Every time I pointed out how pointless it was to learn cursive, people would tell me how important it was going to be.

and now I worry that I might be making the same mistake suggesting archaic priorities to my kids.

When I heard Sheryl Crow sing: "I'm gonna soak up the sun, Got my 45 on, So I can rock on" I thought she meant she was playing her singles...

Wait... What? She didn't mean that? Now I have to google to find out what she really meant... I'm so not hip.

[nyjastul69]

I remember pumping leaded gasoline.

I remember Superpong IV as my family's first console game.

I remember the Beta Max/ VHS war.

I remember 3 VHF channels. I had to put tin foil on the horse shoe shaped receiver to get most UHF channels. There were only 4 or 5 at best.

I remember Captain Bob.

I remember Grover, but not Elmo.

I rember non themed Lego's. Legos were better then.

I remember Star Blazers.

I remember when there was a single SW movie. How were Luke and Han able to put on robot suits? To my x-year old brain, nothing fundamentally separated them from 3pio.

I remember twin bills at the local drive-in.

I remember local theaters.

I rember that my first rock concert was the Kinks.

I rember rotary phones.

I remember a C-64 as our first computer.

I remember seat belts and car seats as not being a thing.

I rember being left alone in a running car unbelted/unseated.

I rember being sent into the corner store for my mom's smokes at a very young age.



I rember when one could just be oneself without judgement by non-involved parties.

I remember being able to pay the local drunk to buy us booze. Wait... never mind. I'm sure that's still a thing. Lol

[DJ Yung Crunk]

This is certainly weird, but ...

Spoiler

Show

I know exactly what you mean. I actually applied to be a gladiator once. It was during the lowest point in my life. My wife had left me for a guy who toured the country playing Brahms with kitchen utensils, the bank foreclosed on my tiki shelter (stripped it out down from the mud lining the walls to the palm fronds on the roof) and a video of me being arrested from Occupy Wall Street while shouting "Free the slaves! Lincoln 2012!" went viral on YouTube. I was looking for an outlet to release my anger and frustration with the world and once glue huffing lost its lustre I found an ad looking for gladiators. I would find triumph on the field of glorious battle or die trying, a man of honour.

Sadly it turned out that the kind of gladiator they wanted was not at all historically accurate. And after turning up in a heavy helmet and brandishing a very real (and very sharp) period sword I was told they were looking for male dancers to be dressed as gladiators for Fire Island's Greek themed Halloween bash. I should have cottoned on when I saw my opponents at the audition wearing a gold thong that accentuated their attributes, a foam helmet and literally nothing else. At the time I assumed they were just slaves to Hollywood historical revisionism and my confidence at my sterling display of accuracy made me pumped for the audition. So pumped, in fact, that even after I heard the news that I would not be an actual gladiator I remained in character. In a blood rage I charged the head talent wrangler, screaming bloody murder in broken Greek and wrested him to the ground. I got a couple good punches to him before the fake gladiators all stormed in and pulled me off. I think one of them copped a feel. Lucky for them there were some dancers dressed as cops further down the hall who were able to take me to the station. Thankfully, while the police were distracted arresting them for impersonating an officer and indecent exposure I hightailed it out of there.

My hands were still cuffed, mind you, so I couldn't remove my costume and in my daring escape the heat inside my helmet caused me to black out periodically. During one of these I passed out in the middle of a busy highway I was attempting to cross. When I came to I was being dragged off the road by two obese truckers who then rolled me into the woods.

[shawnhcorey]

I remember staying up late and watching Neil Armstrong walk on the Moon. In my day, we were taught how to use a sliderule in high school.

[Telonius]

I remember Grover, but not Elmo.

I remember Elmo's first episode, that little graffiti-drawing delinquent.

[noparlpf]

Hmm.

I remember electric or gas push mowers that didn't have a drive motor. We even had one of those old mechanical push mowers but I'm not sure if that was my parents trying to save electricity or my parents being sadistic.
I remember rotary phones, but we mostly had the corded phones with a number pad when I was a kid.
I remember audio cassettes and VHS, but I missed vinyl and beta cassettes.
I remember CRT TVs with a couple dozen channels, but I'm not quite old enough to remember having 3-5 channels.
I remember getting our first CD stereo, and then getting a portable CD player with batteries and headphones and everything.
I remember Windows 95.
I remember 3.5" floppy disks and Zip disks, but I missed the 5.25" floppy disks.
I remember a 128 Mb USB thumb drive being huge.
I remember getting a DVD player, but it was still second to VHS for a long time.
I remember the Gameboy Color being a big deal.

[Dire Moose]

Hmm.

I remember electric or gas push mowers that didn't have a drive motor. We even had one of those old mechanical push mowers but I'm not sure if that was my parents trying to save electricity or my parents being sadistic.
I remember rotary phones, but we mostly had the corded phones with a number pad when I was a kid.
I remember audio cassettes and VHS, but I missed vinyl and beta cassettes.
I remember CRT TVs with a couple dozen channels, but I'm not quite old enough to remember having 3-5 channels.
I remember getting our first CD stereo, and then getting a portable CD player with batteries and headphones and everything.
I remember Windows 95.
I remember 3.5" floppy disks and Zip disks, but I missed the 5.25" floppy disks.
I remember a 128 Mb USB thumb drive being huge.
I remember getting a DVD player, but it was still second to VHS for a long time.
I remember the Gameboy Color being a big deal.

We must be around the same age.

[FinnLassie]

Things I remember, in no particular order:

• The National Anthem played in theatres, before each show. And standing up for it.

Wait, in what part of the world was this a thi---

• The Iron Curtain.

... I, uh, take these two are somehow related...?


I feel young. I think I am young.

[Velaryon]

I am. Quite so.

This guy's going places.

Specifically, places where all the staff members where nice white lab coats and the rooms come with padding.

[blacklight101]

Hmm.

I remember electric or gas push mowers that didn't have a drive motor. We even had one of those old mechanical push mowers but I'm not sure if that was my parents trying to save electricity or my parents being sadistic.
I remember rotary phones, but we mostly had the corded phones with a number pad when I was a kid.
I remember audio cassettes and VHS, but I missed vinyl and beta cassettes.
I remember CRT TVs with a couple dozen channels, but I'm not quite old enough to remember having 3-5 channels.
I remember getting our first CD stereo, and then getting a portable CD player with batteries and headphones and everything.
I remember Windows 95.
I remember 3.5" floppy disks and Zip disks, but I missed the 5.25" floppy disks.
I remember a 128 Mb USB thumb drive being huge.
I remember getting a DVD player, but it was still second to VHS for a long time.
I remember the Gameboy Color being a big deal.

I think we're about the same age too.

I bet you might have missed the Atari boom, but did hit the Original NES era.
Pong and Tetris were mom and dad's games; in your arcade they're already the classics like Galaga/Galaxian.
In your day, the Arcade hadn't yet died to the home consoles.

[007_ctrl_room]

Wow where do I begin, my original grey brick Game Boy, or how about the NES Power Pad? Who still laughs when they hear the old modem dialing song that would shatter most home windows? It makes me laugh when that sound comes up on TV and younger ppl have no idea what it is.

[Peelee]

All of these grey brick Game Boys.... I feel the need to share my love for the Atari Lynx (black version). That thing was mind blowing, and introduced me to one of my very favorite games ever, Chip's Challenge

[BannedInSchool]

In my day we typed "kill troll with sword" repeatedly because we didn't have an "again" command AND WE LIKED IT!

[Aliquid]

All of these grey brick Game Boys.... I feel the need to share my love for the Atari Lynx (black version). That thing was mind blowing, and introduced me to one of my very favorite games ever, Chip's Challenge

Chip's Challenge came pre-loaded as a game on my cell phone back in 2002... that game was cool.

[Scarlet Knight]

I remember Captain Bob.

I remember Captain Kangaroo and Captain Jack McCarthy.

[BannedInSchool]

I remember wearing plaid pants.

[Peelee]

Chip's Challenge came pre-loaded as a game on my cell phone back in 2002... that game was cool.

Just so ya know, the sequel was just released on Steam, and is AMAZING. Five bucks gets you original, sequel, and level editor. I highly recommend it.

Uhh, imean, Netscape Navigator! Dancing the Charleston! WORKING UNDER TYCHO BRAHE.

[Dire Moose]

Also cursive. Every time I pointed out how pointless it was to learn cursive, people would tell me how important it was going to be. Now it's deader than Latin.

I was told in elementary school that cursive was required, and that in middle school we would be using nothing but cursive. Lo and behold, when I arrived in middle school, nobody used cursive. In fact, I was told not to use cursive by a teacher who could barely read what I was writing in it.

I remember a friend introducing me to Google as the hip new search engine someone had mentioned on Slashdot.

I remember when it was mainly Yahoo and AltaVista. Then Google showed up as a less popular search engine. It wound up quickly becoming better than its competition, becoming synonymous with "search engine" itself, and then moving on to all kinds of other functions. I now wonder when Google will achieve world domination.

[Gnomvid]

I can also clearly recall cursive but only in like 1-3 grade 8-10 years old, then later in 8th and 9th grade there was typewriting class, which in fairness has helped a little to use a keyboard although I still have some difficulty writing without looking at the keyboard even with the little ridges on F and J and remembering asdf jkl;.

Does anybody recall a wonderful console called Intellivision and some great games for it like Mission X (my favourite), Night Stalker, Snafu, Tripple action and such?
The controller was pretty hard to use with a pad containing 10 numbered buttons from 1 to 0 and a spring mounted disk for directions, fortunately I was given an enhancement for it a mini joystick to attach to it way better control with that, and the games came with a insert to slide in over the buttons so you could find the correct functions for that game.

It lasted all of a few days after my birthday before I spilled a bottle of Fanta on it, it was later replaced by a C64 which was faulty so I got upgraded to a 128 instead with external cassette player and 5.25" floppy drive, load "*" ,8 ,1 anyone?

Edit: forgot about the disk notcher tool to make your floppy double sided https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy...eholepunch.jpg